Pedals for that "secret sound"...

[SonicProvocateur]

So, we're all Mesa players here and sometimes it's hard (i'm sure) for us to keep it a secret that the Mesa is the secret to our tones, but what are the pedals you guys have found are the "secret sound" pedals? Ones that really do the trick either live or behind the mic?

Just curious because recently I saw the Earthquaker Devices Rainbow Machine and couldn't help but think "WOW! Now THATS one of those secret sounds!" Something you'd turn on and just wow a crowd with!

For me it's my vintage EH Electric Mistress. Never fails to impress.

 

[Mister Joshua]

Hmmmm. Intriguing. For me it is my MXR EVH Phase 90 with script button in and turned to about 9:00. Something about that at the right moment gives the audience wood. People often ask what i did to OOMPH up a solo i played, and when i say it was just a Phase 90, they are amazed, and often accuse me of dishonesty. That would be my "secret tone sauce".

Peace,
Joshua

 

[elvis]

+1 for the EVH P90, though I have the knob pointing at the script button. Really awesome effect.

I think many of the "secret sauce" pedals are mod pedals. Vibe, chorus, phase, flange. Nothing like a good swirly sound. I see a lot of people using modulated delays as well. Tape-loop delay emulators are getting popular, basically delay + chorus.

 

[Triaxstasy]

I got two actually.....

First one is my *old* Ibanez Modulation Delay III,
second one is my Keeley TS-9DX Flex (soon to be replaced by a Nady TD-1 (12AX7-driven Overdrive/Distortion)) which I use to add that extra bit of liquid sustain....

 

[b.k.wala]

Agreed on the modulation. The pedal I've been using the most of lately is the Danelectro Cool Cat Vibe, which gets pretty close to the old Uni-Vibe sound. I had a friend re-house it into some custom enclosures to work best with my setup, but those Cool Cat series pedals from Dano are GREAT. Talk about bang for your buck....

 

[tomprs]

For me the Maxon OD808 as a boost or for warm overdrive sounds and the MXR EVH Phase 90! I don't need anything else than these two and a good delay pedal.

Tom

 

[kdorsey]

It's not always a modulation effect that makes the big difference, for me. My fav is the Xotic EP-Booster. It does some magic sh** to my signal that can't be duplicated...and I've looked for over 30 years. That plus a Keeley TS-9 or K'zoo and daaa-yam!! Now, there are other secrets to the special sauce, but the EP-Booster is the key ingredient. :wink:

 

[TremoJem]

The Xotic RC Booster gets my vote.

It has allowed me to reduce my gain to almost half of what it was in my Trem-O-Verbs.

I used to run at max then after a year I ran at about 2:00-3:00 then after another year I ran it at about 1:00 and now I am at 11:00-12:00. Now I get incredible tone that is tight, percussive, articulate, musical and NO FIZZ.

I just kick in the RC Booster to get a little more edge and if I want to get heavier I just kick in the AC Booster without the RC Booster...unless I am really far away from my amps then I can add the RC Booster, but that is not very often or even necessary.

Cool thing is that when I am on the clean channel the RC Booster adds a little break up depending on how much I dig into the strings...I love all three, RC, AC and BB, all from Xotic.

I am thinking about getting a phase 90 or something like that, as I use a GMAjor in the FXLoop and I can't get that EVH sound that way, at least not the heavy swooshing stuff.

 

[rfrakes]

For me its that rasp at the edge of the swirl from a Univibe, or Rotovibe.

If I wasn't so lazy I would get my Leslie working.

 

[gonzo]

FOR ME,

the secret sound, is usually just 'a bit more'


for that, a clean boost is great.

i use a fulltone fatboost III


other good ones:
barber launch pad
xotic RC booster
Keeley Katana


also, consider treble boosters

 

[knike_99]

For me, it's definitely my vintage Boss CE-2. It just gives that clean sound a little glossy sheen that really stands out!

 

[screamingdaisy]

The best secret sauce is the solo button on my amp. You want wow factor... that's punch you in the face wow factor.

But if I have to choose a stand-alone pedal I'd have to choose the UniVibe. The Phase 90 is cool, but Vibes take it up a couple of steps by adding dynamics to the swirl.

 

[knotts]

Mad Professor Forrest Green Compressor set to sustain and Xotic AC booster.

 

[BluesAndBooze]

:idea:
Creation Audio Labs MK4.23 in the loop 8)

 

[zachman]

The secret tones I mostly had a hard time with (There are exceptions), weren't the one's derived mainly from a more traditional pedals approach. It was the rack rig tones, that were always elusive w/ a pedal approach as a solution, for me.

There came a point that I realized the core tones were from certain guitar/amp/speaker/cab combinations. Then if a TS9 was utilized as a part of the tone 'Core'-- then that made a difference too (obviously).

I figure the core amp tones seem to revolve around Fender, Mesa, Marshall, Vox, Hiwatt, and Roland (JC-120). Most current amps are a modded/blended version of these.

Then came the 80's-- MIDI gear in guitar rigs, channel switching amps etc...

For me, I like to cover a lot of sonic territory, because I play a few different styles of music, and since I play live and in the studio too, I needed to consider real time switching, as a prerequisite for my rig's design philosophy.

I ended up deciding on a W/D/W, Multi-Amp-- design approach incorporating pedals, along with digital and analog rack gear. The rig can run mono, w/d, w/d/w, wd/d/wd, d/d/d, or stereo. The outboard processing choices came from years of researching what studio tools were used by the engineers and artists whom I admired. I realized that MANY of them were the same devices, so I started there (TC Electronic, Lexicon, Eventide, Dytronics, Custom Audio Electronics). MOST don't go this route, and I understand why-- but when it comes to being able to create, or recapture "secret sounds"-- Let me tell you-- If a variety of options is what you're into-- then there are a bunch of valid ways to approach things, none of which are a substitute for developing skills on one's instrument.

 

[allphourus]

For me the secret sauce is a wet/dry--dry--wet/dry set up with a bit or +01-01 harmonizer and aaprx 300 ms and 500 ms delay left and right from an Rocktron Intelafex rack unit. It's my sound I don't try to sound like what some one else has sounded like. I don't use modulation type effects much, burnt out on that back in the 80s, but I have a patch in my LPX 15 that is a chourus type effect modulated by the envelope generator in it , very unique sound of my own, used sparingly, as i said i get tired of modulation fast.

 

[jdurso]

I have two... one is an old, very beat up Ibanez Soundtank Delay pedal. As much as I like fancier delays such as the Strymon and Eventide delays, this one just has a great tone and sits well in the sound of any amp I've ever paired it with.

My newest secret weapon is the Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master. This is THE BEST PEDAL I'VE EVER BOUGHT!!! I'm a reverb/dely addict and this pedal just has the best tone.